The assignee of the present invention manufactures and deploys spacecraft for, inter alia, communications and broadcast services from geostationary orbit. During launch, such spacecraft experience environmental dynamic loads, particularly acoustic launch loads.
Spacecraft components, including particularly radio frequency (RF) antenna reflectors, are required to be compatible with such launch loads, but must also comply, subsequent to launch, with challenging performance specifications in the face of substantial temperature variations and solar radiation exposure, typical of a space environment. Furthermore, such structures must be designed in view of stringent mass and cost objectives.
Laminated composite structures for such applications have been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,930, and U.S. Pat Pub. 2004/0113863, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the present disclosure.
Improved design and fabrication techniques for RF antenna reflectors that achieve excellent RF performance, compatibility with acoustic launch environmental loads, and relatively low mass and cost are desired.